Loading video... VIDEO: The atomic waltz in the crystalline lattice in this interactive video, which helps understand this fascinating mechanism of atomic rearrangement in response to heat more clearly! view more Credit: Toshihiro Isobe Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology recently synthesized a novel material that displays unique thermal expansion properties. The method used by the scientists enables the production of a unique crystalline oxide containing zirconium, sulfur, and phosphorus, that exhibits two distinct mechanisms of negative thermal expansion. This is the first known material to show this property and its application may help avoid damage to composite materials, such as computer chip components, facing unexpected temperature changes.